PSS Business Model for Domestic Plumbing Services

advent growth due to funding and capturing niche services, aggregators have subscription fees, reverse-auction and advertisement fees.

(iv) Geographical presence & website traffic: It is observed that on-demand services are operational in India’s urban cities. There is an opportunity to extend these services to tier 2 cities. Website traffic or the total number of visits to websites is a popular measure for online business success. Consumers find on-demand services through search in contrast with direct web addresses. To reach the maximum audience, social media, referrals and advertisements are employed.

(v) Website design: Website design is an essential factor that converts visitors to customers.

Content and information overload could cause customers to leave before making any purchase.

The website’s landing page design examined in this study has a clear layout, minimal content, and more Call-to-Action (CTA) for easy navigation. These factors could be benchmarked for consumers’ willingness to book on-demand services.

(vi) Competitive advantage: In the last few years, many start-ups have evolved to provide on- demand services in India. However, only a few have sustained competitive advantages, such as cost leadership, product and service differentiation, customization and global presence.

Significant differentiating factors may evolve from effective utilization of funding resources, brand awareness, adaptation of new technology, management of leadership team, business acquisitions and expansions.

The support staff receives service requests from the customer through the website portal and forward the request to the available plumber. The acceptance of the job from the plumber is then forwarded to customers through the support staff. The support staff will also acknowledge the service confirmation according to the scheduled date, time and location. The plumber visits the allocated service location and completes the job. If spares are necessary during the plumber service, the customer can avail the ordering plumbing spares through the registered account.

Else, the allocated plumber can procure plumbing spares through the registered plumbing retailer. The customer bears for procuring the plumbing spares either online payment or by the cash. Once the service is completed, the support staff will send a service invoice to the registered mail id and a text message to the registered contact number. Customers could resolve minor plumbing issues by following DIY projects on the website platform.

Figure 4.26: Business model representation of B2C E-commerce for domestic plumbing services Following is the description of business model canvas developed using nine-building blocks viz. value proposition, customer segments, channel, customer relationships, key activities, key resources, key partners, cost structure and revenue streams (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2004) Value proposition: The e-commerce business model delivers value proposition as a moderator through a website platform that offers plumbing solutions. Plumbing solutions include not only the on-demand plumber service but also delivery and procurement of plumbing tools/spares, DIY tutorials on minor plumbing issues and nearby retailers’ information. The other similar website platform in India only facilitates on-demand plumber services. In contrast with the existing sites offering plumbing services, this innovative platform provides customers the

ustomer Segments sers

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Plumbers Plumbers

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Revenue Streams alue Propositions

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sers who looking for plumber service.

sers who wants to place order for plumbing tools and spares.

sers who can t find local retailers.

sers who try IY for plumbing issues.

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etailers who want to grow their business and reach maximum audience.

Sales of products and service commissions from each orders ebsite domain hosting and maintenance

Employee salary

arketing and operational costs

Sales of customer subscription for annual maintenance Advertisements (In future)

days service guarantee on plumbing services

ebsite interactions atings reviews ast delivery of tools and spares

lumbers retailers registrations, listings

advantage of online orders of spares, retailers’ contact information and IY tutorials. The value proposition for plumbers will be, listing as a plumbing service provider, options for acceptance or cancellation of plumbing services, more service opportunities, incentives and wages based on customer ratings and reviews.

Customer segments: The customer segment served by the developed business model are viz.

users who avail plumber service, users who order online for plumbing tools and spares, users who try DIY for minor plumbing issues, plumbers who seek work with the flexible timings, and retailers who reach target audience to sell plumbing tools and spares.

Channel: Since the developed business model is a B2C e-commerce business base, three channels are used to communicate with the stakeholders as follows,

• Website platform: Customers request on-demand plumber services, order tools and spares. Retailers receive orders for tools and spares. Admin receives customer request for plumber service.

• Phone call: Admin confirms service details, location, and scheduled service date and time with the customer. Admin confirms acceptance of a job with the available plumber.

• Text messages: Customers receive service confirmation, service delivery, payment confirmation. Plumbers receive service details, service location, service scheduled date and time.

Customer relationships: The developed business model must establish and maintain three customer segments viz. users, plumbers and retailers. In relationship with the users are viz.

thirty days service guarantee on plumbing services; fast delivery of tools and spares; review and ratings on plumbing services, delivery of tools/spares; customer website interactions;

provide data security and secured payment system; In relationship with the plumbers are viz.

online registration and listing as a plumbing service provider. In relationship with the retailers are viz. online registration and listing as plumbing products supplier.

Key activities: The business model’s first and foremost activity is development and maintenance of a website platform, marketing activity and the planning of promotional strategies of the website. The second is to reach out to local plumbers and retailers for registration and listing as partners. The third activity is to maintain customer database and

process service requests to available plumbers. Fourth activity is to process online order of tools and spares and linking the same with the retailers.

Key resources: The business model’s essential resources are the capabilities of plumbers and retailers to deliver services. The other major key resources are such as viz. the capabilities of admin and supporting staff for processing service requests, the capabilities of managers and designers for executive decisions on website development, website maintenance, marketing and promotional strategies. Resources include updated DIY tutorials and physical assets of office equipment.

Key partners: the proposed business model has primary key partners such as viz. plumbers, retailers, admin and supporting staff. The secondary key partners of the proposed business model include viz. investors, payment process partners, Government for initiatives and schemes, joint ventures for co-owning and investments.

Cost structure: The major cost incurred by the business model are viz. website domain hosting and maintenance charges, salaries of admin and supporting staff, marketing, promotional and operational costs.

Revenue streams: In the proposed business model, there are two major revenue streams viz. (i) sales of domestic plumbing services, (ii) sales of plumbing tools/spares through vendors/retailers. Revenue stream also includes customer subscriptions for annual maintenance services through Annual Manual Contracts (AMC) and advertisements.